Machine for making wedge heels and the like



Au 26, 1947. G. CLAUSING MACHINE FOR MAKING WEDGE HEELS AND THE LIKEFiled Au 22, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NM Ow 0a Va 00 N 7 nW I U J I wv J NHLP a UN I I I l I l l 5 mn vv g [mm 7 on G WHHHIWH: Q

L ww hm mm 9 mm 1 INVENTOR.

Geezer; CLAILSINCI Aug. 26, 1947- G, c usm 2,426,487

MACHINE FOR/MAKING WEDGE HEELS AND THE LIKE Filed A ug. 22, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet?v INVENTOR GEORGE CLAUSI N G ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 26,1947 MACHINE FOR MAKING WEDGE HEELS AND THE LIKE George Clausing,Portsmouth, Ohio, assignor to Vulcan Corporation, Fortsmouth, Ohio, acor.-

poration of Ohio Application August 22, 1944, S erialNo. 550,628

11 Claims.

1, This invention relates to a machine for cutting and turning wedgeheels and other articles having sides with continually-changingangularity; from wood or other suitable material.

The shank or arch portions of wedge heels have side faces which convergerelatively teeply downward and inward from their attaching faces.

Heretofore two machines have been required for the production of woodenheels of this type, one of which was used to cut the heel to its generalshape and a second which cut or turned the converging side faces. Afterthese two operations, it has also been necessary to sand the heels byhand in order to finish them to the desired shape.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a unitaryapparatus by which a wedge heel or similar objects may be accuratelyformed from a wood heel blank or block, and completely finished withoutbeing transferred to another machine and without a hand-sandingoperation. An important feature of the present invention i the provisionof a wedge heel-turning machine-in which use is made of twosubstantially vertically mounted oppositely-rotating cutters eachprovided above and below With rub collars against which two cams ortemplates mounted on a clamp unit or jack, operate to determine theangularity and shape of the cut made on a heel blank mounted in the jackbetween the cams. The machine of the present invention is arranged andoperated so that one side of the heel blank up to the middle of the backof the heel is cut on one of the cutters while the other side of theblank is cut on the other cutter up to the middle of the back of theheel.

Another important feature of the present invention is the provision of ajack or clamping unit which is rotatablymounted in a movable support orbase on an axis parallel thereto and generally coincident with thelongitudinal aXis of the blank. The movable base is connected by apivoted linkage means to a fixed point midway and back of the cutters,so that the jack may be shifted from one cutter to the other, swung onan upright axis about each cutter, and rotated on an aXisparallelv tothe top of a fiat-topped table on which the base of the jack slides. Thejack is also provided with a lock or stop by means of which the jack maybe quickly adjusted to an upright position and maintained in thatposition during the cuttin of the rear portion of the heel block.

The machine of the present invention includes other features andadvantages which will be apparent from the following more detaileddescription thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich: I

Fig. 1 is a side View of the apparatus with certain parts broken away. I

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view looking down on the apparatus, withcertain parts broken away or removed, showing the position of the jackwith respect to one of the cutters during the completion of the turningof the back portion of the heel block.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view looking down on the apparatus at thebeginning of a side cut-. ting operation. Portions of the apparatus arebroken away to clarify the illustration.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a finished wedge heel having side faceswhichv converge downwardly and inwardly as produced by the apparatus of-the present invention.

The machine of the present invention as indicated in the drawings may beassociated with or included as a part of a standard two-spindle shaper,a heel-turning machine, or any similar two vertical spindle machine, aportion ofthe frame or base of which is shown at H]. The apparatusincludes two spaced vertically adjustable brackets |2' adjustablymounted. on the base H] bya bolt l3 for each bracket. The bolt l3extends through a vertical slot in the bracket l2v so that verticaladjustment is possible. The brackets l2 carry a flat-surfaced table l4pivoted to the brackets by pivots E6. The table M is adjustable withrespect to the horizontal by means of adjusting screws lBprovided withhand wheels, which are mounted in the outer portions of the brackets I2.The machine includes two oppositely-driven vertically mounted spindles29 carrying, straight-faced cutters 22 and 24. The spindles 20' aremounted. on the machine base 10 by means not shown, and driven by anysuitable power means and connections, also not shown, The spindles 20project through openings or notches in. the table I4, asindicated bytheir positions in Figs. 2 and 3. The direction of rota tion of thecutters is shown by arrows.

The rotary cutters 22. and 24 are associated with upper and lower rubcollars 26 and 28.which are independently adjustable with respect to thecutters. The two rub collars for each cutter are mounted on horizontallyadjustable bracket units 30 attached to the top of the base H] by meansof bolts 32. The horizontal adjustment of the brackets is made byadjusting screws 34, while the rub collars 26 may be adjusted withrespect to the brackets 30 and the cutters 22 and 2 by means of bolts 36and the associated slots in the collar mounting 31. The lower rubcollars 28 are adjustable with respect to cutters 22 and 24 and thebrackets by means of bolts 33 (Fig, 1) and suitable slotted mountings.If the upper and lower rub collars are properly adjusted on the brackets30 with respect to each other, they may be adjusted with respect to thecutters 22 and 24 by adjustment of the brackets 35.

The heel jack unit of the present invention which is operated inconnection with the cutters 22 and 24 and the sets of rub collarsassociated therewith comprises a flat-bottomed base unit which rests onand is slidable on the top of the table l4. This base unit 40 is pivotedto a short link 42 which is pivoted to a long link 44, which in turnextends back between and midway of the cutters, and is connected by afixed pivot at the end of an extension bar 46. This bar is fixed to theback edge of the table I4 by a pair of angle brackets, as clearly shownin Figs. 2 and 3. The pivot point on the base 40 for the link 42 is thecenter of the arc of the back seat-portion of the heel. The uppersurface of the extension bar 46 is flush with the top of the table l4and provides a fixed pivot point between and back of cutters 22 and 24which serves as a base for the swingin of the jack unit over the surfaceof the table S4. The base 40 includes two spaced bearings "48 in whichis mounted a shaft 50 of a rotatable heel blank carrying-jack 52 whichis mounted on an axis parallel to the bottom of the base 40 or to tableI4.

The rotatable jack 52 includes upper and lower jaw-sections 54 and 55extending from the head of the jack, and between which a heel block maybe clamped by the mean illustrated. The lower jaw 56 which i rounded onthe bottom and spaced from the base 45, carries a knurled heel blankrest plate 58 and a template or cam 55!. The cam 60 has a cut-outcentral section from the rear to a point near the front so that the camslips into front and side grooves separated by a narrow section in themid-portion of the jaw-section 56. The back portion of the cam 52 isheld by studs to the lower ends of a pair of blocks 6| attached one oneach side of the head of the jack 52. The upper jaw 54 mount a clampingmeans comprising a slide bracket 62, a slide block 64, to which isattached a link 65,

operated by a handle 58. The upper connection of the handle is fixed toa vertically adjustable clamp slide 10 mounted in the bracket 62. Theupper portion of the block 64 and the clampslide 10 are preferablydove-tailed in section to correspond with a similar section in thebracket 62 in which they are slidable. The handle 68 is provided with ashoulder 12 which operates on the upper portion of the link 66 to forceit and the slide block 64 down so as to clamp a heel blank 14 firmlyupon the plate 58. It will be apparent that when the handle 68 islifted, the upper portion of the link 66 is swung to the right in Fig.1, and that the slide block 54 is raised to release the heel block 14.The clamping means may be adjusted for dilferent sizes of heel blocks bymeans of a threaded adjusting screw H3 attached to the clamp slide 16.The front and back positions of the block 14 are determined by 'means ofa tapered breast gauge bar 11, the

stem of which i held at the desired position by means of a set screw asindicated.

The heel blanks from which the wedge heels are made are preferablyoblong-shaped blocks, the tops and bottoms of which have been previouslycut to the desired shape from the breast edge, such as indicated in Fig.1.

The upper jaw 54 of the jack 52 i provided with a template or cam 18,the cams Gil and 18 being mounted respectively below and above theposition of the heel block 14 parallel to each other, and spaced so thatthey contact respectively the rub collars 28 and 26. The cam 18 is heldin place by studs which secure it to the front of jaw 54 and to theupper ends of the blocks 61., The brackets [2 are vertically adjusted sothat the cams properly contact the rub collars.

Both of the cams or templates 60 and f8 are removably attached to therotatable jack 52 so that they may be replaced by other cams ofdifferent size and/or of different contour. The shaft 50 of therotatable jack 52 i held from endwise movement in the bearings 48 bymeans of an end collar 86 attached to the shaft by means of a set screw.The rotation of the jack 52 on the axis of the shaft 50 is controlled bymeans of a collar 32 keyed to and slidable on the shaft 50 between thebearings 45 and which is provided with a stop pin 84 which operatesalternately between two pairs of adjustable stop plates 85 and 85mounted in a recess in and attached to the base 40.

The movement of the heel jack unit upon the table I 4 is confined to arather limited area by the linkage members 42 and 44 which are connectedto the end of the bar 46, by stop pins 88 each side of the link 44 andstop pins 90 which are engaged by the side of the base 40. The pins 88and 99 are set in and project above the table l4. The operation of theheel turning-machine may be illustrated in connection with a particularheel block which i clamped in the jack, which in turn is. provided withthe proper templates for making the particular Wedge heel desired. Theoperation is started by swinging the unit to the left to engage the stoppin 9!]. Th position of the jack unit, including the templates 60 and13, in relation to the cutter 22 and the rub collars associatedtherewith shortly after the commencement of the heel-turning operation,is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. It will be noted that the lack hasbeen rotated to the right on the shaft 59 because of the position of thestop pin 84 ad-- jacent the left stop plate 85. The turning operationcommences at the breast edge of the heel block by bringing one side ofthe block in contact with the cutter 22 while holding the base 40against the pin 90 and the templates firmly against the rub collars. Theside cut is completed by sliding the jack unit past the cutter 22 aslimited by the linkage members 42 and 44 while keeping the block asnearly as possible at a right angle to the cutter. As the templates l8and 5!] move along the rub collars they act to move the jack unit in andout, and to partially rotate the jack in the bearings 48, therebyforming one converging side face of the wedge heel. As the end of theside out is approached, and the links 42 and 44 move close to cutter 22,with the link 44 against the pin 88 as in Fig. 2, the jack unit isrotated about its pivot with the small link 42, through approximatelyone-quarter turn to out half of the back portion of the heel up to thecenter of the back. In shaping the wedge heel it is necessary that thebackline of the heel be perpendicular so that there will be noirregularity in the back portion of the heel. This result is obtained byrotating the jack 52 to an upright position on the shaft 50, whichoccurs when the pin 84 engages the right stop plate 84 engages the rightstop plate 86, so that a per-- fectly straight andperpendicular backline-is produced;

Having in mind that the jack is mounted, by means of the-shaft 50, soasto be rotatable about the axis of the shaft which is held inzthebearings 48-'-4'8, the steps involved in the cutting of one side of" aheelblock: may be summarized briefly as follows:

The jack unit, with theheel block in place, is

brought to the position shown iii-Figure 3 with the base 48 in contactwith-the pin 90 so that,

the templates 60" and 18' are in contact. with the rollers 28 and 26-respectively. In. view of the shapes of the templates, the jack unitwhen in the position shown in Figure 3, will be in a position such thatthe stop pin'84 is incontact with the stop plate 85'. As the cuttingoperation proceeds and thejack is rotatedon the axis of the shaft *topresent the edgeof the heelblock to the cutter, the templates and 18.,by virtue of their shapes, will cause the jack to be rotated about theaxis of the shaft 50 until-a line passing through the back of the blockis in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 50. At this timethe stop pin 84 will be in. engagement with the right hand stop plate86' as shown in Figure 2, so' that further rotationof the jack about theaxis ofthe shaft 50 will be prevented. Bythe time the jack unit reachesthe position shown-in Figure 2 one side ofthe block willhave been cut tothe desired shape.

One side only of the heel blank iscut or turned' on the cutter 22. Whenthat side is finished the other side of'the heel blank is brought intocontact with the cutter 24 in the same cycleof operations as thatdescribed above in connection with the use of the cutter being slid tothe rightin Fig. 1 so that the pin 84 operates between left plate 86 andthe right plate 85. The cycle of operations carried out with respect tothe cutter 24 will be in the opposite direction to those carried'outwith respect to the cutter 22, the back of the heel'being completed withthe pin 84 against the left plate 86 and with: the jack that shown. in.Fig. 2.. Both. right and left heels may be formed by the use of theproper templates or cams. In fact. the cams 60 and T8 may be made. sothat the leftheel is produced as shown, with the. cams in the presentposition, while the right heel may be produced by simply turning thecams over. When this change is made the plates 85 are adjustedaccordingly since a greater swing. of. the pin 84' is necessary forturning the inner side of the wedge heel.

The cam 18, as shown in Fig. 3, is made with a long central slot whichfits the oblong base of the bracket 62 on the jaw 54 and which permitsthe ready removal of the cam. The cam 60 is parallel to the cam 18 andconstructed in a similar way so that it fits in a groove along the sidesand front of the lower portion of the jaw 56. The cams may be made ofply wood or other suitable material and secured to the jack by meansother than that shown.

The pitch of the wedge heel is sometimes expressed as the angle formedbetween a vertical plane and a straight line through the extreme 22',the stop-collar 82- in upright position similar to a 6 back points ofthe top and seat of the heel. Sometimes the pitch is expressed as thehorizontal' distance in inches from the extreme back point of the seat.ofthe heel'to a point vertically below the extreme back point of the topof the heel; In the present instance the pitch of the heel is obtainedby'the adjustment of the angle of the table 14, as will be apparent fromthe angular relationships shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The -pitchmay be obtained in other ways, as, for example, by attaching an angularplate to the lower jaw of the jack, on or in place of the heel rest 58'.The Wedge heel-turning machine of the present invention is a relativelysimple arrangement by which wedge heels may be produced on a largescale, since the desired quantity of right orleft heels for a given sizemay 'bemade without any change whatever, after which the opposite heelmay be produced in the same quantity by simple changes in the machine.

The spaced vertically mounted cutters 24 are shown diagrammatically asstraight faced cutters which are particularly adapted for turning theconverging surfaces of wedge heels. The cutters may be of the two bladetype or of other suitablecuttin units, and theymay be mounted and drivenin the manner shown in the applicants Patent No. 1,694A65. The templatesor cams 6E] and 18- may be attached to brackets on the head 52 which maybe used in place of blocks (ii. If desired,- the jack unit may bepartially tinually changing angularity can be produced byproviding theproper templates or. cams 60 and T3 and cutters of the desired contour,suitably adjusting the angle and height of the table l4, and theposition of the rub collars 2G and 28. Such changes are contemplatedwithin-the scope of the present invention.

Having described the invention in its preferred.

form what is .cl'aimed'as new is:

1. In a wedge heel-turning machine a vertically mounted cutter, aflat-topped table mounted adjacent said cutter and adjustable withrespect thereto, a jack unit having a flat-bottomed base on saidtable,said jack unit including a jack for holdingv a wedge heel blank,.saidjack being rotatably mounted in a bearing on said base on anaxisparallel'to the top of the tablewhereby said jack may present theside of to the cutter at the desired cutting angle.

2. In. a wedge heel-turning machine, a vertically mounted cutter, aflat-toppedtable adjustabl'y mounted with respect to said cutter withthe cutter projecting above the table, means for adjusting the angle ofthe top of the table with respect to the cutter, a jack unit including aflatbottomed bass slidably mounted on said table adjacent to saidcutter, said jack unit including a jack for holding a heel bank, saidjack being rotatably mounted on said base on an axis parallel to the topof the table, and means associated with said jack and cutter forcontrolling the contour of the out made on said heel blank.

3. In a heel-turning machine, a flat-topped table and a verticallymounted cutter projecting above the table, means for adjusting the angleof 22 and" heels, it'may be used a wedge heel blank the top of the tablewith respect to the axis of the cutter, a jack unit having aflat-bottomed base on said table, said jack unit including a jack forholding a heel blank, two rub collars associated with said cutter oneabove and one below the cutter, two templates mounted on said jack oneabove and one below the position of said blank, the upper and lowertemplates being adapted to engage respectively the upper and lower rubcollars associated with the cutter, said jack being rotatably mounted ona shaft and bearing on said base on an axis parallel to the top of thetable whereby said jack may present the side of a heel blank to thecutter at the desired cutting angle.

4. In a wedge heel-turning machine, a vertically-mounted cutter, aflat-topped table of substantial area mounted adjacent to said cutterwith the cutter projecting above the table top, means for adjusting theangle of the top of the table with respect to the axis of the cutter, ajack unit including a flat-bottomed base mounted on said table adjacentsaid cutter, said jack unit being pivoted by a connecting linkage meansto a fixed pivot member substantially back of and to one side of saidcutter, said jack unit including a jack for holding a wedge heel blank,said jack unit being rotatably mounted on said flat-bottomed base on anaxis parallel to the bottom of said base, and means associated with saidjack and cutter adapted to cooperate for controlling the contour of thecut made on said heel blank.

5. In a turning machine, a pair of vertically mounted cutters spacedsubstantially with respect to each other, a fiat-topped table ofsubstantial area mounted adjacent to said cutters with the latterprojecting above the table, a jack unit including a flat-bottomed baseslidably mounted on said table and pivoted by a linkage means from apoint midway and substantially back of said cutters from the table, saidjack unit including a jack for holding the blank to be cut, and meansassociated with said jack and cutters for controlling the contour of thecut made on said blank.

6. In a turning machine as defined by claim in which said linkage meansincludes a relatively long link extending from said point to a positionbetween said cutters and a relatively short link connecting the end ofthe long link with the base of the jack unit directly below the positionof said blank.

7. In a turning machine as defined by claim 5, a stop pin in the tablesurface adjacent each cutter to be engaged by said linkage means, and astop pin in the table surface substantially on the remote side of eachcutter to be engaged by said base.

8. In a turning machine, a pair of verticallymounted cutters spacedsubstantially with respect to each other, a table mounted adjacent tosaid cutters with the latter projecting above the table,

connected to said table.

a jack unit including a base, mounted on and movable on said table, saidbase being pivoted by a linkage means from a pivot point midway andsubstantially back of said cutters, said jack unit including a clampingmember for holding the blank to be turned, and a stop means on thesurface of the table adjacent each cutter for engagement by said linkagemeans.

9. In a turning machine, a pair of verticallymounted cutters spacedsubstantially with respect to each other, a table adjacent to saidcutters with the latter projecting above the table, a jack unitincluding a ,base member slidably mounted on said table and pivoted withrespect to said cutters by a linkage means, said jack unit including ajack for holding the blank to be cut and mounted on a shaft ofsubstantial length extending through a pair of spaced bearings on saidbase, said shaft being substantially parallel to the bottom of the base,and means on said shaft for limiting the extent of its rotation in saidbearings.

10. In a turning machine, a pair of verticallymounted cutters spacedapart laterally with respect to each other, a table mounted adjacent tosaid cutter with the latter projecting above the table top, said tablebeing pivoted on a horizontal pivot substantially in a vertical planethrough the axes of said cutters, means for tilting said table to changethe angle of the top of the table with respect to the axes of thecutters, a jack unit including a base member slidably mounted on saidtable and pivoted with respect to said cutters by a linkage means, saidjack unit includin a jack for holding a blank to be cut, the jack beingmounted on a shaft of substantial length through a pair of spacedbearings on said base, and said shaft being substantially parallel tothe bottom of the base.

11. In a turning machine as defined by claim 9 in which said linkagemeans is connected to a pivot member positioned between and in back ofsaid cutters, and in which said pivot member is GEORGE CLAUSING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 7 Name Date 230,157 Sutherland July 20,1880 1,687,576 MacDonald Oct. 16, 1928 1,409,565 Munson Mar. 16, 19221,753,425 MacDonald Apr. 8, 1930 2,311,904 Hoza Feb. 23, 1943 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 600,271 Germany July 18, 1936

